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UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Transindigenous Affinities: Gender, Indigeneity, and Objects in Mexicana and Chicana Performance Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/54969331 Author Martinez-Vu, Yvette Publication Date 2016 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Transindigenous Materialities: Gender, Indigeneity, and Objects in Mexicana and Chicana Performance A dissertation in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Theater and Performance Studies by Yvette Martínez-Vu 2016 © Copyright by Yvette Martínez-Vu 2016 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Transindigenous Affinities: Gender, Indigeneity, and Objects in Mexicana and Chicana Performance by Yvette Martínez-Vu Doctor of Philosophy in Theater and Performance Studies University of California, Los Angeles, 2016 Professor Sean Aaron Metzger, Chair This dissertation addresses issues of gender and indigeneity through an analysis of ceremonial and quotidian objects used within contemporary Mexicana and Chicana performances. Performances by women residing on either side of the U.S.-Mexico border— specifically works by artists Jesusa Rodríguez, Fortaleza de la Mujer Maya (FOMMA), Cherríe Moraga, and Paulina Sahagun— draw on embodied forms of knowledge to resignify myths, record testimonies, construct forms of female solidarity, and demonstrate lateral connections among oppressed populations. This project posits the concept of transindigenous materialities as the shared though distinct ways that Mexicana and Chicana performances tactically use material items, which have indigenous markers, in ways that strengthen female agency. In contrast to other work that focuses on objects in more static environments like museums or archives, this project centers on the study of objects used in performance since a reading of objects as ii stationary risks relegating indigenous cultures to the past and European cultures to the present. This dissertation focuses on performances that rely on objects to stage dynamic relationships between objects and subjects. iii The dissertation of Yvette Martínez-Vu is approved. Alicia Gaspar de Alba Chon A. Noriega Sue-Ellen Case Sean Aaron Metzger, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2016 iv Para mi mamá Rosaura, mi pareja Joshua, mi hijo Emiliano, mi familia, y todos mis antepasados v TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... vii Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................... ix Vita ................................................................................................................................................ xii Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter One: An Object of Resistance: Gender Performance in Maya Mexican Theater ........... 37 Chapter Two: Indigenous and Queer Archetypes: Coatlicue Representations in Jesusa Rodríguez’s Political Performance ............................................................................................... 87 Chapter Three: Im(Prop)er Approaches to Mexican Motherhood Myths: An Analysis of Corn and Masks in the Theater Productions of Cherríe Moraga and Paulina Sahagun ....................... 135 Chapter Four: Intimate Acts of Healing: Surrogate Glass Candles in U.S. Botánicas ............... 183 vi LIST OF FIGURES Chapter One Figure 1.1 Scene with Chepe and Pascu in front of backdrop from “El dueño de las mariposas,” 2009…………………………..………………………………………40 Figure 1.2 Scene with Chepe in front and Pascu behind backdrop from “El dueño de las mariposas,” 2009.…………………………………..……………………………...40 Figure 1.3 Backdrop in “Solo crecí con el amor de mi madre,” 2011………………………53 Figure 1.4 Petrona de la Cruz Cruz in “Dulces y amargos sueños,” 2013……………………72 Figure 1.5 Image of FOMMA’s three-tier stage, 2011……………………………………....76 Figure 1.6 View of ground area from FOMMA’s stage, 2011……………………………….76 Figure 1.7 Image of “Buscando nuevos caminos,” 2011……………………………………...77 Figure 1.8 Francisca Oceguera Cruz (right) in “Buscando nuevos caminos,” 2011.…………78 Figure 1.9 Francisca Oceguera Cruz (far right) in “Buscando nuevos caminos,” 2011.……...78 Chapter Four Figure 4.1 Rows of religious, syncretic and multicolored candles, 2012…...…………….…190 Figure 4.2 Our Lady of Charity Statue, 2012………………………………………………..208 Figure 4.3 Saint Death Shrine, 2012…………………………………………………………213 Figure 4.4 Candles, oils, and and pencil writing on brown paper, 2012……..…………...…216 Figure 4.5 Candle preparation in Rosi’s botánica, 2012…………………………………….216 vii Figure 4.6 Bath herbs displayed on a wall, 2012………………………………………….…220 Figure 4.7 Vitrine with scented oils, 2012…………………………………………………...221 Figure 4.8 “You’ll Be Mine Only” candle, 2014………………………………………….…222 Figure 4.9 “Domination” candle, 2014………………………………………………………223 Figure 4.10 “Seven African Powers” candle with image of Olofi deity, 2014……………….227 Figure 4.11 “Seven African Powers” candle with medallion image of Saint Barbara, 2014…228 viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The road to my Ph.D. began ten years ago when I crossed a border into unfamiliar territory by attending UCLA as a first-generation college student. I would like to thank everyone who has helped me through this challenging journey. Upon starting the doctoral program, I leaned on my cohort members for support. I would like to thank Fan-ting Cheng, William “Bill” Hutson, Areum Jeong, Paulo Lima, and Lisa Sloan for helping me get through the first years of coursework. I would also like to thank departmental colleagues, such as Courtney Ryan, Lindsay Brandon Hunter, Anndretta Lyle Wilson, Gwyneth Shanks, and Chantal Rodríguez for their company and advice in getting through this program. During my doctoral program, I participated in a summer internship program for the Hemispheric Institute’s center in Chiapas, Mexico. In addition to working as the assistant to the director for this center, I also worked with FOMMA— a Mayan Women’s cultural center where I worked alongside Tzeltal and Tzotzil Mayan women performers. These experiences inspired me to expand my research to include the topic of indigenous, Mexican and Chicana performance. I would like to thank the Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics, the members of Fortaleza de la Mujer Maya (FOMMA), as well as their theater director and my dear friend, Doris Difarnecio. Thank you for welcoming me into your community and allowing me to learn from your experiences. I would also like to thank my friends and colleagues from across disciplines. Thank you to my revolutionary women writing group members: Marilu Medrano, Joyce Pualani Warren, Ester N. Trujillo, Carolina Beltrán, Juliann Anesi, Erica Onugha, Sandra Ruiz, Isabel Gómez, Mariana Grajales, Kimberly Mack, and Brandy Underwood. Thank you to the colleagues from the UCLA Department of Education who helped me during the dissertation writing and revision ix process: Wendy Pérez and Winmar Way. Thank you to my indigenous, Chicana, and Latina mother colleagues: Cecilia Caballero, Diana C. Rose, Flori Boj-López, Christine Vega, Judith Consuelo Pérez-Torres, and Michelle Téllez. Thank you to my Mellon Mays mentors, Therí Pickens and Jasmine Mitchell. Thank you to my long-time friends, Elena Fuentes and Ana Tapia, who I met during my undergraduate years. Thank you to my UCLA Undergraduate Research Center colleagues: Billie Buchanan, Andrea Slater, Calvin Ho, William Clark, Emily Yen, Gabriela Wanless, and Whitney Arnold. Thank you to my Scholarship Resource Center colleagues, especially Angela Deaver Campbell and Francesca Marx. Thank you to all the other members of my Tuesday dissertation writer’s group—you know who you are! I would also like to thank the Inter-University Program in Latino Studies (IUPLR), the Ford Foundation, UCLA Graduate Division, the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Professional Network (MMUFPN), the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), the UCLA Center for the Study of Women (CSW), and the UCLA Theater Department for funding my research through multiple grants and fellowships. Thank you for providing me with the resources necessary to complete this project. I am especially grateful to my committee members and mentors who provided me with the feedback and questions necessary to complete this project. Thank you to Sue-Ellen Case and Alicia Gaspar de Alba for your support during my qualifying exams and beyond. Thank you to Chon A. Noriega for serving as my Graduate Summer Research Program mentor and IUPLR Mellon Fellowship mentor during my time at UCLA. Thank you to professor Marissa K. López, who has been mentoring and supporting me since 2008. I am also incredibly grateful to my advisor, Sean Aaron Metzger, who was always there for me and met with me regularly even when he was on the other side of the globe. I could not do this without your academic support. x Last but not least, I would like to thank mi familia. Thank you to my amá Rosaura Serratos, and to my siblings Ricardo Martínez, Erick Martínez, Alex Martínez, Itzel Martínez, and Daniel Harley Martínez. Mil gracias to my life partner, Joshua D. Vu and to my son/sun Emiliano J. Vu. I love you. Thank you for providing me with light and love even in the darkest
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